"If I had a kid, I would name him Huckleberry. Then people would call him 'Huck Ng'."
-Bryan Ng.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Graduated sMITers :(
So I started this post in May after Nationals because I realized how many great players sMITe is losing this year and I had to blog about SOMETHING now that the season was over. I think I stopped because I got kinda emotional while writing. :( Now I feel kinda weird writing this post because it's already September, we're in the middle of orientation, and graduation was three months ago, but hey, writing about these people inspires me to become a better player.
So here's to all who left sMITe after Spring '08:
Catherine - I don't know what I would do without you. Thanks for teaching me how to throw, fake, handle, huck, hammer, dump cut, make smart decisions, basically everything except pulling =P j/k your pulls are amazing now :) You're this 5'2" ball of energy and I'm always inspired by your enthusiasm and ability to keep sMITe upbeat and motivated. I love seeing you excited when we're huddling up and you always remind me that ultimate is fun and we play better when we're having fun. When it seems like everyone has given it their all, you have that extra sprint, that extra push to do what's needed on the field and everyone is convinced that they can run a little bit harder because of your example. You've been a great leader on and off the field (or as Smeri would put it, "In ultimate and in real life") and you'll be sorely missed. Best of luck in London and I'm excited that I'll have a place to crash when I visit :) Too bad you're not going to be around when I perfect my spin-pull :)
Daphne - "But she's so small!" - everyone's reaction when you D someone >6 inches taller than you. We should've put 12'6" for you on the roster because you play so much taller and you inspire others to play taller than they really are. Thanks for introducing me to sMITe and for being a great leader on the team. You're always so cheerful and you have such a great attitude about everything. And I'll forever remember you as our fearless Captain Planet :)
Doris - You're amazing on so many different levels. You're the most reliable deep deep I've ever played with and this position was basically created for you to exemplify your speed and acceleration, boxing out and reading abilities, and laziness. :) You get numerous run through Ds and you have the uncanny ability to get grass stuck in random places (your mouth, your underwear, your nose...) I'm so glad that I still get to play ultimate with you on Hatch. :) And you can huck now! You better come to some sMITe practices so our team can learn how to play good defense. Just don't teach them to throw backhands like you do. :P
Erika - Erika you were a great example to the team, as a defensive all-star and physical fitness coach and strategy consultant. One of my favorite zone plays is always going to be "Erika's Choice" just because it screws with the other team and works so well every time!! Let's just say that I'm really glad that you were on our team. This picture is a typical Erika-being-awesome-and-better-than-everyone-else image:
Jenny - Man were we glad to have you on our team this year :) You do realize that you probably bring up our average height at least three inches, right? One of the most vivid images of you is when there are three people vying for the disc in the air and then you just come out of nowhere to bring the disc down. I am also glad that I still get to play ultimate with you on Hatch.
Coaches Jin and Darlene - Well, Darlene left us already but Jin will still be around for the new version of sMITe! Individually, you guys are great players and coaches but together, you guys are were as hilarious and entertaining as you were great explainers of everything. :) I'll always remember our three goals of the year: efficient offense, shutdown defense, and AWESOME. Thanks for teaching us and motivating us and coaching us to Nationals :)
An end of one chapter of sMITe and the beginning of another...
So here's to all who left sMITe after Spring '08:
Catherine - I don't know what I would do without you. Thanks for teaching me how to throw, fake, handle, huck, hammer, dump cut, make smart decisions, basically everything except pulling =P j/k your pulls are amazing now :) You're this 5'2" ball of energy and I'm always inspired by your enthusiasm and ability to keep sMITe upbeat and motivated. I love seeing you excited when we're huddling up and you always remind me that ultimate is fun and we play better when we're having fun. When it seems like everyone has given it their all, you have that extra sprint, that extra push to do what's needed on the field and everyone is convinced that they can run a little bit harder because of your example. You've been a great leader on and off the field (or as Smeri would put it, "In ultimate and in real life") and you'll be sorely missed. Best of luck in London and I'm excited that I'll have a place to crash when I visit :) Too bad you're not going to be around when I perfect my spin-pull :)
Daphne - "But she's so small!" - everyone's reaction when you D someone >6 inches taller than you. We should've put 12'6" for you on the roster because you play so much taller and you inspire others to play taller than they really are. Thanks for introducing me to sMITe and for being a great leader on the team. You're always so cheerful and you have such a great attitude about everything. And I'll forever remember you as our fearless Captain Planet :)
Doris - You're amazing on so many different levels. You're the most reliable deep deep I've ever played with and this position was basically created for you to exemplify your speed and acceleration, boxing out and reading abilities, and laziness. :) You get numerous run through Ds and you have the uncanny ability to get grass stuck in random places (your mouth, your underwear, your nose...) I'm so glad that I still get to play ultimate with you on Hatch. :) And you can huck now! You better come to some sMITe practices so our team can learn how to play good defense. Just don't teach them to throw backhands like you do. :P
Erika - Erika you were a great example to the team, as a defensive all-star and physical fitness coach and strategy consultant. One of my favorite zone plays is always going to be "Erika's Choice" just because it screws with the other team and works so well every time!! Let's just say that I'm really glad that you were on our team. This picture is a typical Erika-being-awesome-and-better-than-everyone-else image:
Jenny - Man were we glad to have you on our team this year :) You do realize that you probably bring up our average height at least three inches, right? One of the most vivid images of you is when there are three people vying for the disc in the air and then you just come out of nowhere to bring the disc down. I am also glad that I still get to play ultimate with you on Hatch.
Coaches Jin and Darlene - Well, Darlene left us already but Jin will still be around for the new version of sMITe! Individually, you guys are great players and coaches but together, you guys are were as hilarious and entertaining as you were great explainers of everything. :) I'll always remember our three goals of the year: efficient offense, shutdown defense, and AWESOME. Thanks for teaching us and motivating us and coaching us to Nationals :)
An end of one chapter of sMITe and the beginning of another...
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Smite discs for sale!
They're the same ones as a few years ago, the crazy cuts design. Same colors as well: white, blue sparkle and nite-glow. Let me know if you want one. $10 each for all three colors.
If you're out of town, I can mail them to you. Just mail a check for $10 + shipping (I guess that depends on how far you are) to 59 Elm Street, Cambridge MA 02139, made out to me (because I'll be doing the mailing). Then I'll put the $10 and any leftover shipping money into our account.
If you're out of town, I can mail them to you. Just mail a check for $10 + shipping (I guess that depends on how far you are) to 59 Elm Street, Cambridge MA 02139, made out to me (because I'll be doing the mailing). Then I'll put the $10 and any leftover shipping money into our account.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Log Jam
So I've been playing ultimate with Hatch, the new Boston women's team. We finally decided on a name just this past week, which is very exciting because considering we've been calling ourselves the New Women's Team for the past month. The name is supposed to be from the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade and hatching eggs but we were getting a lot of strange questions about our name this weekend, such as, "Does your name come from a spaceship hatch?"
Anyway, this weekend we played in Log Jam, a small tournament in Vermont (there were only six teams). And I drove up with Jin, Jenny and Doris in Doris' new car. Unfortunately it rained for part of Saturday and all of Sunday so Doris' car didn't smell or look very new after we sat in it.
We went 3-1 on Saturday in pool play, losing to Ambush 10-12 during the first game of the day. I felt like we played pretty well considering we're still learning how to play with each other. Personally I threw a lot of horrible uncatchable throws because I haven't really played ultimate for the last three weeks. As a team we only got better throughout the day and we learned different zone defenses.
It rained all day on Sunday. We started off the first game against MissCONNduct who had recruited six Storm players. We came out strong during the first half and at one point I think we were up 6-3. We started making a lot of dumb turns but squeaked away with 8-7 at half. I personally think this team cheated a lot by making up their own rules: calling stall when they didn't even say "ten", making the disc go back to someone even though it stays, etc... Granted it was our fault for not stopping them at the time.
Anyway, somehow the game progresses to 10-10 during hard cap, universe point, and one of our handlers throws a backhand to a cutter in the endzone for the score. But the handler was fouled during the "wind-up" motion of her throw (at which point she called a foul) but still released the disc, which was caught. The path of the throw was obviously affected by the foul, but the mark argued that the foul was called before the disc was up and that the foul was not on the throwing motion. Anyway, after 5 minutes, the disc went back and there was a turnover, and then more turnovers, and then MissCONNduct scored, 11-10. AGH such a frustrating game.
Our next game was the "semis" against Ambush again. And we lost again 10-12. Another frustrating loss, but I think my best play was during these two games on Sunday. Except when I dropped a pull during this game. I know it happens to everyone, but it still sucks when it happens.
Anyway, I feel like I need to learn how to do dump cuts again. I think whenever I don't play ultimate for a long time my dump cuts are the first to go. I need to start doing track workouts again, and I need to learn to recognize when my disc space is violated, and how to fake and pivot with an aggressive mark. And I want to work on pulling because pulling is fun. And I need to lift again because my shoulder and back are sore from pulling this weekend... how sad. :(
But yay for ultimate, I missed playing.
Anyway, this weekend we played in Log Jam, a small tournament in Vermont (there were only six teams). And I drove up with Jin, Jenny and Doris in Doris' new car. Unfortunately it rained for part of Saturday and all of Sunday so Doris' car didn't smell or look very new after we sat in it.
We went 3-1 on Saturday in pool play, losing to Ambush 10-12 during the first game of the day. I felt like we played pretty well considering we're still learning how to play with each other. Personally I threw a lot of horrible uncatchable throws because I haven't really played ultimate for the last three weeks. As a team we only got better throughout the day and we learned different zone defenses.
It rained all day on Sunday. We started off the first game against MissCONNduct who had recruited six Storm players. We came out strong during the first half and at one point I think we were up 6-3. We started making a lot of dumb turns but squeaked away with 8-7 at half. I personally think this team cheated a lot by making up their own rules: calling stall when they didn't even say "ten", making the disc go back to someone even though it stays, etc... Granted it was our fault for not stopping them at the time.
Anyway, somehow the game progresses to 10-10 during hard cap, universe point, and one of our handlers throws a backhand to a cutter in the endzone for the score. But the handler was fouled during the "wind-up" motion of her throw (at which point she called a foul) but still released the disc, which was caught. The path of the throw was obviously affected by the foul, but the mark argued that the foul was called before the disc was up and that the foul was not on the throwing motion. Anyway, after 5 minutes, the disc went back and there was a turnover, and then more turnovers, and then MissCONNduct scored, 11-10. AGH such a frustrating game.
Our next game was the "semis" against Ambush again. And we lost again 10-12. Another frustrating loss, but I think my best play was during these two games on Sunday. Except when I dropped a pull during this game. I know it happens to everyone, but it still sucks when it happens.
Anyway, I feel like I need to learn how to do dump cuts again. I think whenever I don't play ultimate for a long time my dump cuts are the first to go. I need to start doing track workouts again, and I need to learn to recognize when my disc space is violated, and how to fake and pivot with an aggressive mark. And I want to work on pulling because pulling is fun. And I need to lift again because my shoulder and back are sore from pulling this weekend... how sad. :(
But yay for ultimate, I missed playing.
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